Device for closing doors and the like

ABSTRACT

A DOOR CLOSER HAS AN ELONGATED HOUSING IN WHICH THERE IS ARRANGED A SLIDE MOVABLE LONGITUDINALLY BETWEEN A REST POSITION AND A WORKING POSITION. THE SLIDE HAS AT LEAST ONE APERTURE EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF BUT ELONGATED IN THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT, AND THE APERTURE IS BOUNDED AT OPPOSITE SIDES BY EDGE FACES WHICH EXTEND IN THIS DIRECTION. BIASING MEANS PERMANENTLY URGES THE SLIDE TO ITS REST POSITION. A FIXEDLY POSITIONED TURNABLY MOUNTED SHAFT HAS AN INNER PORTION EXTENDING THROUGH THE APERTURE IN THE SLIDE AND AN OUTER PORTION WHICH PROJECTS FROM THE HOUSING FOR CONNECTION TO A DOOR SO THAT THE SHAFT WILL TURN AS THE DOOR MOVES BETWEEN OPEN AND CLOSED POSITIONS. CONNECTING MEANS CONNECTS THE SHAFT WITH THE SLIDE SO THAT THE LATTER IS MOVED FROM ITS REST POSITION WHEN THE SHAFT TURNS. A ROLLER RING IS MOUNTED ON THE INNER PORTION OF THE SHAFT AND RECEIVED IN THE APERTURE IN ROLLING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE EDGE FACES SO AS TO GUIDE AND SUPPORT THE SHAFT IN THE APERTURE WITH MINIMUM FRICTION.

Dec. 14, 1971 n. lx-:NTSCH` DEVICE FOR CLOSING DOORS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. l5, 1969 United States Patent O 3,626,549 DEVICE FOR CLOSING DOORS AND THE LIKE Dietrich Jentsch, Ennepetal-Voerde, Germany, assignor to Firma Dorken & Mankel KG, Ennepetal-Voerde, Germany Filed Aug. 15, 1969, Ser. No. 850,378 Claims priority, application Germany, Aug. 17, 1968, P 17 84 547.5 Int. Cl. E05f 3/10, 3/00 U.S. Cl. 16--53 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A door closer has an elongated housing in which there is arranged a slide movable longitudinally between a rest position and a working position. The slide has at least one aperture extending transversely of but elongated in the direction of movement, and the aperture is bounded at opposite sides by edge faces which extend in this direction. Biasing means permanently urges the slide to its rest position. A fixedly positioned turnably mounted shaft has an inner portion extending through the aperture in the slide and an outer portion which projects from the housing for connection to a door so that the shaft will turn as the door moves between open and closed positions. Connecting means connects the shaft with the slide so that the latter is moved from its rest position when the shaft turns. A roller ring is mounted on the inner portion of the shaft and received in the aperture in rolling engagement with the edge faces so as to guide and support the shaft in the aperture with minimum friction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a device for closing doors and the like, and more particularly to such a device wherein a slide is movable longitudinally within a housing, being urged to a rest position by biasing means, and being moved from its rest position in response to turning movement of a shaft With which it is associated and which in turn is connected with the door or other element which is to be closed by the device.

Devices of the type in question are already known. Conventionally, the slide element arranged within the housing is provided with a slot extending in the direction of movement, and a portion of the shaft extends through the slot transversely of the direction of movement, being provided with a cam track which cooperates with abutments provided on the slide element, usually carrying suitable rollers, so as to urge the slide element from rest position to operative position in response to turning movement of the shaft which in turn is occasioned by movement of the door or analogous element between its open and closed positions. To guide the slide element during its movement it is known to have the edge faces bounding the opposite sides of the longitudinal slot in the slide element contact the corresponding surface portions of the shaft. However, this has been found to be unsatisfactory because of the high wear resulting from this frictional engagement.

Furthermore, the high frictional forces which occur in such a construction disadvantageously inuence the effectiveness of the device for closing aA door or analogous element, which hereafter will be identified as a door for the sake of simplicity. Attempts have been made to overcome this problem by having the slide element guided at the lateral walls of the housing. However, this necessarily has increased the space requirements, aside from the fact that it requires a more elaborate and therefore more expensive construction.

3,626,549 Patented Dec. 14, 1971 ICC SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION lt is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to provide a device of the type under discussion which is not possessed of the aforementioned disadvantages.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to provide such a device wherein the wear and frictional factors mentioned before are significantly reduced.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide such a device which is relatively simple in its construction and requires less space than heretofore necessary.

In pursuance of the above objects, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of my invention resides, briefly stated, in a device for closing doors and the like which comprises elongated housing means and slide means arranged in this housing means longitudinally slidable in predetermined direction between a rest position and a working position. The slide means has at least one aperture which extends transversely of, but is elongated in this predetermined direction and the aperture is bounded at opposite sides by edge faces extending in this direction. Biasing means permanently urges the slide means to its rest position. A shaft is iixedly positioned but turnably mounted and has an inner portion extending through the aperture transversely of the aforementioned direction, and an outer portion which projects from the housing means for connection to a door so that the shaft turns in response to movement of the door between the open and closed positions thereof. Connecting means connects the shaft with the slide means for effecting movement of the latter from the rest position in response to turning of the shaft, and With reference to the latter. A roller ring is mounted on the inner portion of the shaft means and is received in the aperture in rolling engagement with the edge faces for guiding and supporting the shaft in the aperture With minimum friction.

By providing the rolling ring, which rolls along the aforementioned edge faces, and which is of course freely turnable on the rst or inner portion of the shaft, friction with the edge faces of the slide means is significantly reduced, and in consequence the wear at the edge faces is similarly reduced. Advantageously, anti-friction bearing means such as a needle bearing is used to mount the roller ring on the inner portion of the shaft, whereby again frictional forces are reduced and the operating efficiency of the device improved, while at the same time slippage of the roller ring With respect to the slide means is reli-V ably prevented. The use of a needle bearing is advantageous because it permits the dimensions of the device to be kept small. If the slide means has two parallel walls or substantially parallel walls, each provided with one of the aforementioned apertures which are then in transverse alignment, one or both of the apertures may accommodate one of the roller rings. However, particularly in view of the desired small dimensions of the device it will usually be sufficient to provide a single roller ring while still guaranteeing that the slide means is guided for free unhindered movement. It is advantageous to provide the roller ring with an annular shoulder which engages the slide means in the region of the aforementioned aperture, but outwardly and laterally thereof.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWNG FIG. 1 is a top-plan view of an embodiment of a device according to the present invent-ion, partly sectioned and partly broken away with removable portions of the housing having been omitted for the sake of clarity; and

FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line II-II of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Discussing now the drawing in detail, it should be kept in mind that the illustrated device is her shown as a door closer and may for instance be mounted in the tubular frame of a door structure. The device comprises a drive section and a cylindrical section 11, together constituting a housing. The sections 10 and 11, or the housing sections 10 and 11 as they will be called hereinafter, are connected releasably via the screws 12. A connecting portion 13 is prov-ided on that end of the housing section 11 which faces the housing section 10.

Arranged in the housing section 10 is a shaft 16 which is mounted turnable via the anti-friction bearings 14 and 15. In known manner, the shaft 16, or rather the portion thereof which projects outwardly from the housing section 10 (compare FIG. 2) may be coupled with a door so as to turn about its longitudinal axis in response to movement of the door between open and closed positions thereof. A mounting ring 18 is connected with the removable cover portion 17 of the housing section 10, and in turn engages and holds in position the anti-friction bearing 14. The anti-friction bearing 15, on the other hand, is accommodated in a recess of the wall bounding the housing section 10, as is particularly clearly shown in FIG. 2.

Interposed between the anti-friction bearing 15 and the aperture through which the shaft 16 penetrates the wall of the housing section 10, is a sealing gasket 19, visible in FIG. 2. Also visible in FIG. 2 is the cam portion 20 which is xedly mounted on the inner portion of the shaft 16, and which is also visible in FIG. l. A slide means or carriage is constituted by two plate sections 21 extending in parallelism with one another transversely spaced, as shown in FIG. 2. The members 21 are each provided with a longitudinally extending slot or aperture 23 (compare FIGS. 1 and 2) and the cam portion 20 is located between and turnable with reference to the plate members 21. Rollers 22 are turnably mounted intermediate the plate members 21 on antifriction bearings and cooperate in known manner with the cam portion 20 for transmitting motion between the latter and the slide means composed of the plate members 21.

As is particularly clearly shown in FIG. 2, the inner portion of the shaft 1.6 extends through the two aligned apertures 23. A roller ring 24 is mounted via a needle bearing 26 on a portion 27 of the shaft 16, for turning movement with respect to the shaft 16, and the roller ring 24 extends into the aperture 23 of one of the plate members 21 (see FIG. 2). Further, the roller ring 24 is provided with an annular shoulder which abuts the major face of the plate member 21 into whose aperture 23 the roller ring 24 extends, as shown in FIG. 2. A portion 28 of the shaft 16 is received with play in the aperture 23 of the other one of the plate members 21.

The housing section 11 defines a substantially cylindrical inner space and accommodates a coupling rod 30 in this space, which is releasably connected via screws 29 with the slide means constituted by the plate members 21, as clearly shown in FIG. 2. In the end portion of the housing section 11 which is remote from the housing section 10, there is received a piston member 32 provided with a conventional valve-arrangement, and the free end of the coupling rod 30 is coupled with the piston member 32 via a pin 31 in the manner clearly visible in FIG. 2. A helical expansion spring surrounds the coupling rod 30 within the contines of the housing section 11 and abuts with one end against the piston member 32 and with the other end against an adjustable abutment 34. The cylinder and piston arrangement thus constituted, in conjunction with controllable iiow channels provided in the housing section 11, constitutes a damping device or shock absorber. The manner in which the control channels are regulated is of no importance for the present invention, and therefore not shown in detail.

The adjustable abutment 34 is connected to the end portions of parallel tension rods 35 which are thereby connected with one another in transverse relationship. The opposite free ends of these tension rods 35 are connected by a bridging member 36 which is provided with a central bore into which a screw 37 is threaded so that, by threading the screw 37 to a greater or lesser extent through the bore in the member 36, the pretensioning of the spring 33 may be adjusted by adjusting the abutment 34 via the intermediary of the tension rod 35.

The device is illustrated in FIGS. l and 2 in its rest position, that is in the position which it would assume if a door connected with the shaft 16 is closed. Assuming that the door is a swinging door, the device would move from the illustrated rest position to one of two (operative positions, depending upon the direction in which the door swings. In any case, when the door would be thus moved from closed to an open position, the cam portion 20 would move in response to turning of the shaft 16, and such motion would be transmitted to the slide means via a respective one of the rollers 22. This would cause movement of the slide means composed of the plate members 21 towards the left in the drawing, with conmitant tension of the spring 33 through the intermediary of the cupling rod 30 and the piston member 32. During this movement the slide means consisting of the two plate members 21 is guided via the roller ring 24 by the shaft 16, and during such movement the roller ring 24-which is freely turnable on the shaft 16 through the intermediary of the needle bearing 26-would roll along the respective edge face ybounding its associated aperture 23. The frictional forces resulting are very small so that to all intents and purposes wear is eliminated, and the operational efficiency of the device is unimpaired.

It is evident, of course, that various modifications are possible to those skilled in the art without departing from the concept of the present invention. Thus, the spring 33 may be differently constructed, or replaced with other means for this purpose, and in fact the entire shock absorbing arrangement in the housing section 11 may be constructed differently from what has been shown. It will also be appreciated that the other of the apertures 23 may be associated with a roller similar to the roller ring 24 which has been shown.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a device for closing doors and the like, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for closing doors and the like, comprising elongated housing means; slide means in said housing means longitudinally slidable in predetermined direction between the rest position and a working position, said slide means comprising two parallel slide members connected to each other and spaced in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of said elongated housing means defining with one another a gap and at least one of which has an aperture of constant cross-section elongated in said predetermined direction and being bounded at opposite sides by edge faces extending in parallelism with one another and with said direction; biasing means permanently urging said slide means to said rest position; fixedly positioned but turnably mounted shaft means having an inner portion extending through said aperture transversely of said direction, and an outer portion projecting from said housing means for connection to a door so that said shaft means turns in response to movement of the door between the open and closed positions thereof; connecting means comprising roller elements mounted in said gap on said slide means and a cam carried by said shaft means and cooperating with said roller elements and connecting said shaft means with said slide means so as to effect movement of the latter from said rest position with reference to said shaft means and said cam in response to turning of the shaft means; and a roller ring coaxially and freely turnably mounted on said inner por tion of said shaft means and received in said aperture of said slide means in rolling engagement with said edge faces for affording guidance and support of said shaft means and said slide means relative to one another with minimum friction.

2. A device as defined in claim 1; and further comprising antifriction bearing means interposed between said roller ring and said inner portion of said shaft means.

3. A device as defined in claim 2, said antifriction bearing means being a needle bearing.

4. A device as defined in claim 1, said roller members being mounted for turning movement about axes paralleling said shaft means, and said cam means engaging said roller means in response to turning of said shaft means to thereby urge said slide means to said working position.

5. A device as defined in claim 1, said roller ring means comprising a radial shoulder in rolling abutment with said slide means.

6. A device as defined in claim 1;.and further comprising varying means for varying the biasing force exerted by said 'biasing means.

7. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said biasing means comprises spring means.

8. A device as defined in claim 4, wherein said aperture is provided in one of said portions; and further comprising an additional aperture in the other of said portions, similar to and transversely aligned with the rstmentioned aperture, said shaft means extending freely through said additional aperture.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l,919,338 7/1933 Levene 16-53 2,128,633 8/1938 Bissell 16-70 3,078,500 2/1963 Millard et al 16-52 3,174,177 3/1965 Bugge 16-53 FOREIGN PATENTS 692,396 8/1964 Canada 16--53 PAUL R. GILLIAM, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 16-70 

